'I don't think she'll bite you,' I said.
'You don't think?'
I reached back and patted Pearl's head.
'You pat, too,' I said.
Janey did, cautiously. Pearl stopped growling. Her short tail wagged.
'Easy,' I said.
I looked at George. She had cowered down into the corner of the front seat.
'How are you?' I said.
'I don't know,' she said.
'In pain?'
'I'm real sore,' she said.
'I'm going to take you to the emergency room,' I said. 'They'll give you something to feel better.'
'I can't go to no hospital,' George said. 'Animal said I went to a hospital or anything, he'd kill me.'
'He won't,' I said.
I put the car in drive and pulled out onto the street.
'He beat her up for talking to you,' Janey said from the backseat. 'Somebody saw us at the mall.'
'He said he was going to kill me if he ever saw us together again.'
'You tell him what we talked about?' I said.
'I said you was asking about Jared Clark, but I didn't tell you nothing,' she said.
She mumbled some because her lip was so fat.
'He's gonna kill me,' she said.
'No,' I said. 'He's not.'
'He'll find out,' she said.
'He's not going to hurt you,' I said.
'How you gonna stop him?' she said. 'You can't stay with me all the time.'
'Parents?' I said.
She made a noise.
'Shit,' she said.
So much for parents. At the hospital, Janey stayed in the car with Pearl. I went in with George and waited while they cleaned her up. When he was through with her, the young emergency-room doctor came out to talk with me.
'You her father?' he said.
'No. Friend of a friend.'
'Well,' he said. 'She'll be okay. No broken bones. I don't think anything wrong internally. She's scared to death and in some discomfort.'
'You give her something?'
'Yes. Three days' worth.'
'She tell you she uses drugs?' I said.
'No, but I assumed. I didn't give her a prescription.'
'Any limits on what she should do?'
'She should stay away from whoever hit her,' the doctor said. 'Otherwise, just rest.'
'I'll see to both,' I said.
'You know who did it?' the doctor said.
'Yes.'
'We'll have to report this to the police,' the doctor said. 'It's an obvious beating.'
'I know.'
'We'll need your name for the police,' the doctor said. He smiled a little. 'And she has no medical insurance.'
I took out one of my cards and gave it to him.
'Send me the bill,' I said.
